Read to a Dog on February 21 at Olathe Downtown Library has been cancelled. Pets for Life, Inc., the organization that provides our trained therapy dogs, has been having difficulty supplying us with volunteers. They are working to resolve this issue. In the meantime, we recommend calling the library before coming to any Read to a Dog programs this spring to confirm that we actually have dogs. We apologize for any incovenience.

It's that time of year when the Children's Department at the Olathe Downtown Library is adorned with artwork created by elementary students from the Olathe School District. There are paintings, drawings, collages, sculptures, ceramics, and more. The art display is scheduled to be up February 17 - March 26. Next time you are at the library, take some time to enjoy the work of these creative young artists. Let's support the arts in our schools!

Do you know about our Cool Sites for Kids web page? There you can find a list of suggested websites just for kids. We have selected and arranged these websites by category to help you find what you're looking for.

Here are a couple of the latest additions:

Code.org - This is a website for kids to find out more about computer science and learn some basic coding. If you are interested in computers and programming, check out this site.

DK (Eyewitness) Find Out! - If you are a fan of the popular Eyewitness books, you will like this website developed by DK Publishing. It is a fun place to see, learn, and explore almost everything.

This time of year seems to be awards season—Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Grammy Awards, etc. In the world of children's literature it's all about the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal, two of the highest honors for authors and illustrators of children's book. The Newbery is awarded to the author of the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year. The Caldecott is awarded to the illustrator of the most distinguished American picture book for children published in the previous year.

On Feburary 2 the winners of these two distinguished awards were announced for 2015.

While trying to tidy up my work area recently, I stumbled across an interesting poster buried under the piles on my desk. The poster was entitled "Unlucky Arithmetic: Thirteen Ways to Raise a Nonreader." This rather tongue-in-cheek list first appeared in The Horn Book Magazine, the acclaimed publication about literature for children and young adults. I thought it was worth sharing.

THIRTEEN WAYS TO RAISE A NONREADER

NEVER READ where your children can see you.

PUT A TV OR COMPUTER in every room. Don't neglect the bedrooms and kitchen.

CORRECT YOUR CHILD every time he mispronounces a word.

SCHEDULE ACTIVITIES every day after school so your child will never be bored.

Once your child can read independently, THROW OUT THE PICTURE BOOKS. They're for babies.

DON'T PLAY board games together. Too dull.

Give little REWARDS for reading. Stickers and plastic toys are nice. Money is even better.

Our winter-spring storytimes will be starting up next week! The winter-spring session runs from January 26 through April 30. We offer Rhyme Time for 0 - 2 year olds with an accompanying adult, Toddler Time for 2 - 3 year olds with an accompanying adult, On My Own Storytime for 3 - 5 year olds who attend independently, and Family Storytime for the whole family. We also offer a Saturday Storytime once a month. None of our storytimes require registration, but for some storytimes tickets will be handed out 15 minutes before the program begins on a first come, first served basis. Click here for more information on the different storytimes and exact times and locations. If you have any questions, give us a call at (913) 971-6874.

We also offer a special weekly storytime for daycare groups on Thursday mornings at 9:30 at the Olathe Downtown Library. We do require preregistration for the daycare storytimes. You may register your group by calling (913) 971-6874.

Read to a Dog on January 17 at Olathe Downtown has been cancelled. Our volunteers are not able to bring their dogs. Hopefully, our reading dogs will be back in February. We apologize for any incovenience.

Here's something you should know about. The Olathe Public Library is excited to now offer access to BookFlix through our website. BookFlix is a fun literacy resource that pairs fictional video storybooks with nonfiction ebooks. The books are geared to K - 3rd graders. BookFlix features more than 110 book pairs related to nine different themes. For instance, you can watch an animated video based on the easy reader Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold and then read the easy nonfiction book It's a Good Thing There Are Insects by Allan Fowler all online. There is no special software or login required. You will find many classic picture books as well as newer titles. You can access BookFlix through the Good Books page of our website and on our Cool Sites for Kids web page under "Books & Magazine." We hope you will take some time to explore this exciting new resource, just another one of the many cool things available through the Olathe Public LIbrary!

And for more online reading fun, don't forget the library also offers access to TumbleBooks!